Marie Morvay
Director of Sustainability Stakeholder Engagement
Can durability be both desirable and responsible? The second GORE-TEX® Brand Culture Panel moved past the environmental case to ask what makes people actually choose products that last.
Director of Sustainability Stakeholder Engagement
Sustainable Textiles and Circular Economy Lead
Chief Merchandising Officer
VP Product Impact and Innovation
Dropped off early due to technical issuessay durability is already an important factor when they buy clothing. They link it to longevity and to value for money, including higher resale value.
can't identify durability at the point of purchase. They fall back on proxies that don't hold up: price, brand and fibre composition.
Lack of confidence at the point of purchase is what stops durability from driving choice. Trusted, independent, evidence-backed information would be a real commercial advantage.
Durability rank among t-shirts tested, more durable to the left. The cheapest shirt outlasted one costing about 35 times more.
Garments look worn, abrasion leaves holes, fabric tears. This is the most prominent reason for disposal, especially in high-use categories.
Bodies change, or the product fails physically, such as shrinking in the wash.
"I've worn it enough." "I don't like it any more."
The link: physical durability also sits underneath the emotional reasons. A product that keeps performing gives people more time to grow attached to it.
The store is where brand and material innovation become an educated recommendation, including how to care for a product over years of use.
Self-described expert customers still gain from in-store guidance on quality, intended use and garment care.
Simple maintenance, such as washing and re-proofing, can restore waterproof performance without buying new.
MEC tracks returns and reviews by brand and product type. High returns or poor reviews trigger more education investment. Its performance guarantee takes back failed products with few questions.
MEC's member trade-ins and rented seller tables grew into a dedicated pre-owned retail store.
Repair programmes show how attached people get to gear that keeps performing. Customers bring in heavily worn jackets they refuse to part with because of the memories stitched into them.
A European Outdoor Group survey shows outdoor users already repair and resell their gear. Celebrating that behaviour, and telling the story of a repaired jacket as proof of real adventure, could make worn gear aspirational.
Repair and resale are more than new revenue lines. The aim is to create value across the whole life of a product, not only at the moment of first sale. Durability is the foundation that makes the rest work.
Fit for its intended use, sold with advice.
Maintenance restores performance.
Proven durability justifies the repair spend.
Proven durability builds trust in second-hand.
A new owner, often a new customer.
Roughly 3 in 5 second-hand purchases replace buying something new.
Regulation and tax structures, such as VAT charged on repair services, tilt the economics toward buying new. Sweden's lower VAT on repair was raised as a positive policy example.
There is no industry-wide standard that lets consumers compare durability across products. WRAP's research found a business case for an independent, industry-wide durability label. Its exact form is still open and would need to flex by brand, range and customer.
Any label has to be grounded in testing to earn trust.
One brand's claim means little unless shoppers can compare it with another's.
Consumers see durability as a value and performance proposition. Communication should start there.
A warranty signals a brand's confidence in its own product.
Durability testing simulates real-world ageing in the lab, informed by feedback from real use.
More durable doesn't have to mean more expensive: material engineering and construction choices can add durability without a big cost increase. And upfront price is the wrong lens. Move the sliders to compare two jackets.
Illustrative figures only, not panel data. Testing data, returns feedback and customer insight help brands find the small design changes that add the most wears.
Connect durable products to a lifetime of meaningful outdoor experiences.
Chris Speyer · MECGore has spent 50 years optimising durable performance alongside comfort. The consumer reframe is cost per wear across the product's life.
Marie Morvay · Gore FabricsThe biggest open need is a consistent, industry-wide way to define and measure durability. Without it, education, behaviour change and investment cases stay hard to build.
Kat Salves · WRAPShoppers buy durability for what it does for them. Sustainability follows.
The gap is confidence at purchase. Evidence people can trust closes it.
An industry-wide methodology and comparable data underpin any credible label.
Worn and repaired gear tells a story of real use. Durability is what lets that story happen.